Dun. Dun. Dun. I’m kidding, don’t worry. Before entering law school, I wondered what it even was, so let me clarify this word thrown around by all law students.
The curve means that teachers grade on “a curve” or in reference to everyone in your class. The curve is sometimes helpful and sometimes hurtful. I will give some examples that demonstrate why: if everyone in your class has written an A worthy paper and you write an A minus paper, the teacher will have to grade you lower. On the other-hand, if everyone gets a low score on a test, and you get slightly higher, you will get bumped up. In the end, the teacher is using math to make the average whatever your school decides (mine is B+ and you can look this up online). This means the most people will get the average and people who do better will get a higher score and visa versa.
Why do law schools do this? Maybe because it has been done for centuries or maybe because it helps employers understand where a student lands? Honestly, I do not really know. Do I like it? Conceptually, probably not, because it strikes me as unjust to give people grades based on others and not what their work merits. It also seems weird to grade us this way when our future bosses will not. However, it is not as hard as one would think to work within it. I recommend just doing your best and being okay with whatever that means for your place on the curve!
bold brookings & brews 